Psychiatry Resident Enjoys Insider's View of Congress

Jose Vito, M.D., a fourth-year resident at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx Psychiatric Center, is the 2005 winner of APA's Jeanne Spurlock Congressional Fellowship.

The fellowship, which is open to PGY-2 and PGY-3 general and child psychiatry residents, provides future psychiatrists interested in health policy and related legislative issues an opportunity to spend six months working in the Washington, D.C., office of a member of Congress or on the staff of a congressional committee.

The fellowship's focus is on mental health issues that affect children and minorities. It comes with a $20,000 stipend plus reimbursement up to $2,500 for costs of moving to Washington, D.C.

Vito's six-month congressional tenure, which began in January, is with the Senate's Special Committee on Aging, where he works with the committee's chair, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).

The first project Vito worked on was Smith's reintroduction of the Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2005 (ETHA). The bill would extend Medicaid coverage to low-income, HIV-positive individuals, who now have to wait until they develop full-blown AIDS before they are eligible for Medicaid-funded health care. The bill is particularly crucial, Vito said, because without access to Medicaid benefits, “many HIV-positive individuals may lack the ability to receive medical care and medicine to help slow the progression of the HIV and prevent the onset of opportunistic infections.”

Part of his committee work on the ETHA involved hosting roundtable discussions about the bill on behalf of Smith to garner support and additional input for the legislation. If passed, the ETHA “will allow people to live longer and more productive lives,” he emphasized.

Vito said that he also reviews all health-related information and prepares a one-page briefing for the committee that describes his recommendations regarding legislative proposals. “I am passionate about how legislation can bring positive changes to our profession and patients,” he said.

In addition, he has arranged a hearing on the often overlooked issue of HIV infection in the elderly and is working to ensure the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, which funds health care and support services for people with HIV-related illnesses.

A particularly important assignment, he noted, is fielding many questions from constituents on health and particularly mental health topics.

“My training helps me explain complicated medical concepts in layman's terms,” Vito told Psychiatric News. “Whenever I can, I help raise awareness about mental illness and how it can be treated successfully and try to reduce the stigma of mental illness.”

Prior to beginning his Capitol Hill fellowship, Vito worked with a program in the Bronx, N.Y., that provides psychiatric evaluations and other services for homeless individuals (Psychiatric News, August 6, 2004). He was also chief resident at the Bronx Psychiatric Center and is a liaison from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) to the New York Council on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The fellowship is named for the late Jeanne Spurlock, M.D., a former deputy medical director of APA and head of its Office of Minority and National Affairs. She devoted the major part of her career to trying to improve mental health care for children and minorities. APA and the American Psychiatric Foundation administer the fellowship in conjunction with AACAP. Funding is through a grant from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Information about the Jeanne Spurlock Congressional Fellowship is posted online at<www.psych.org/edu/other_res/apa_fellowship/JMSCongressFellowshipLeaflet2005.pdf>.▪